COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
Iolani alumnus Jon Lee competed in the triple jump and the long jump as a member of Colorado's track and field team. Lee's best finish for the Buffaloes was second place, a feat he accomplished twice.
True measure
of successJon Lee learned valuable life
lessons as a member of Colorado's
track team
YOU don't have to win gold medals and all-star accolades to have a meaningful experience in intercollegiate athletics.
Take the case of Jon Lee, a 1999 Iolani graduate from Kahala.
Lee never won an event at a major meet in four years on the track team at the University of Colorado.
But he says the experience was invaluable.
"In a media-driven world where success in athletics is measured in wins, you might say I've struggled," Lee wrote in an e-mail to Hawaii Grown.
"I haven't won any meets, but the beauty is that I've had a chance to really appreciate the essence of athletics ... respect for competitors, emotional highs and lows and working through them, the need for consistency ... it all makes sense to me now. Maybe it comes with maturity."
Lee placed third in the 1999 HHSAA long jump and ran the third leg on a 4x100 relay team that featured college stars-to-be Joe Igber (football at Cal) and Brad Anderson (basketball at Santa Clara).
He was not recruited and went to Colorado to study business with no expectations of extending his track-and-field career. "I thought everybody was too good," Lee said.
But that summer Lee dropped off a 10-second video clip of his long-jumping form at the Colorado Track and Field office. "I wanted to see if I could compete at the Division I level," he recalls. "I just wanted a chance."
A week later, the Colorado long-jump coach phoned Lee and invited him to walk on.
"I stuck with it for four years, despite major hamstring injuries every year," Lee said. "Not everyone gets to say they were in a Division I program for four years."
His best long-jump finishes were second place at the Colorado and Arizona State Sun Devil Invitational meets. Last season his best was sixth at the Pepsi Invitational with a jump of 21 feet, 9 inches.
Lee was the fourth best long jumper at Colorado last season and was the Buffs' only triple jumper (42-0 1/2).
No gold or glory, but a lot of unforgettable experiences.
"It is one of the coolest things to jump against the third-best guy in the world," Lee said.
"It's not that I did so well. I just want to let the kids at home know it is possible to be a collegiate athlete.
"Don't sell yourselves short. Give yourself a chance. It's a growing experience and you can learn a lot about yourself, especially how to handle adversity. Try it and see what comes."
Lee extended his experience as a member of Colorado's Student Athlete Advisory Committee, which advocates for student-athlete issues and organizes community service activities.
He earned multi-year Big 12 All-Academic First Team recognition, won a MacAllister Scholar Award, which recognizes student-athletes who exhibit outstanding leadership skills for University of Colorado and the community, and was an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award winner.
Being a complete student-athlete "teaches you how be successful in life," Lee says. "You have to manage your time, learn to work with others and all those life skills"
Lee graduated last May in business administrationmarketing with a 3.4 grade-point average and he is now working toward a law degree.
"We've surely had others with more God-given talent here at CU," long-jump coach James Nyumutei said, "but Jon has experienced, first-hand, the core of dedicated preparation and competition, on the field and in the classroom."
"Jon's work ethic will extend into his business or professional life. That's the most satisfying, for me.
"After all, our first responsibility as coaches is to prepare young people for life."
Jon Lee, graduated student-athlete, is ready for the next challenge.
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Hala’api’api boosts
block total to 27Freshman Fatai Hala'api'api of Lahaina scored a career high 18 points and blocked three more shots last night as the Eastern Kentucky women's basketball team fell 66-55 to Tennessee-Martin in an Ohio Valley Conference game.
Hala'api'api, a 6-foot-1, 2003 graduate of Lahainaluna High, pumped her blocked-shot total to 27, the fifth-highest single-season mark in Eastern Kentucky history. It was the third time in her 19-game career that she has blocked three or more shots in a game.
Hala'api'api made nine of 13 field-goal attempts, raising her season percentage to 47.3.
Konawaena High senior Nancy Hoist has signed and will join Hala'api'api at Eastern Kentucky next season.
BASEBALL
Cal State Fullerton junior catcher Kurt Suzuki (Baldwin '01) went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and tied a career-high with four RBIs yesterday in an 8-7 loss at Stanford.
FOOTBALL
University of San Diego seniors Gavin Ng (Mililani '00) and Josh Noga (Farrington '00) received honorable mention last week on the Football Gazette Division I-AA Mid-Major All-America team.Ng was honored as a return specialist and Noga as a defensive lineman.
Earlier, both Ng and Noga were chosen first team all-stars by coaches of the Pioneer Football League. Ng was doubly honored, as first-team defensive back and second-team return specialist.
Ng, who also plays left field for the school's baseball team, averaged 20.9 yards per kickoff return and 8.4 yards per punt return last season.
WRESTLING
San Francisco State senior Joey Bareng (Moanalua '00) has jumped to No. 5 in the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association rankings as he improved his record to 15-9 in the 125-pound class.
SWIMMING
Members of Fresno State's swimming and men's soccer teams have been told their programs would be suspended next season because the school can't afford them.Did Bulldog sophomore swimmer Nika Nakamoto (Kalani '02), who has been a competitive swimmer since she was 5 years old, take her disappointment into a corner and pout? Hardly.
On Friday, Nakamoto swam a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 13.24 seconds in winning the 200-yard butterfly in a meet against Loyola Marymount and Cal Poly.
She also won the 100 butterfly in 1:01.42.
